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The Complete List of Caveats
As a relative newcomer on the mobile phone landscape, Republic Wireless still has some technical issues to resolve. While the service works well enough for most, some have not been pleased. This article is intended to help you determine, before you commit funds and time or leave your current provider, whether you will be happy with the service. Despite Republic's generous 30-day trial period that carries a refund guarantee if not satisifed, some have been upset to find out the things noted below that Republic does not advertise when you sign up, and have cancelled their membership as a result. If you do decide to try Republic, it is important to remember this most important caveat - cancelling your membership after the trial period means you have purchased a phone that cannot be activated or used on any cellular service, including Republic Wireless (good news though - re-activation on Republic is coming soon). A Republic phone without an active Republic membership is a small and expensive Android tablet. So when you receive your phone, be sure to test it extensively during the 30 day trial period. Visit places where you expect to have cell service. Use Wi-Fi everywhere you can, especially for voice calls. Make use of all the features you expect or have become accustomed to using on your present phone. Here are the rest of the major caveats to look out for: *'Refund '- If you return the phone within the 30-day trial period, your refund will have $10 deducted from it to cover the cost of return shipping. If the phone has any damage (even slight scratches) or missing components, your refund may be reduced per this list of damage charges. *'Beta' - The word Beta appears in the Republic Wireless logo because this is a small startup operation with technology, infrastructure, procedures, and staff that are still being developed and debugged. If you need a high quality and highly reliable mobile phone service for emergencies or for business, Republic Wireless may not be the best choice for you at this time. *'Phone' - The only phone currently available, Motorola's Defy XT557D, is an entry level Android 2.3 smartphone. It will not be upgraded to Android 4.x. Battery life is acceptable when used on Wi-Fi, but when cell signal strength is weak or 3G data is used, the battery fades quickly. Internal storage for apps is minimal, requiring power users to perform several workarounds to have enough space for more than a few downloaded apps. Rooting the phone can help with app space and battery life issues, but is not recommended, since there is no means of recovery from root-enabled mistakes that stop the phone from booting. Finally, Republic has confirmed that there will be no further major updates ("OTA" updates) to this phone - and therefore the phone will not benefit from some service improvements that are expected in newer phones, such as Wi-Fi to cell handoff of active calls and full support for MMS (texting pictures). *'New Phones and New Plans' - The best of the anticipated three new phones, the Moto X, was announced on September 19 but won't ship until November 2013. New monthly prices for the new phones have also been announced, amounting to a price hike for plans with mobile data (3G/4G) included. Lower monthly prices are available for plans without mobile data. The Defy XT monthly price will not change, but the $79 phone with $29/month plan is no longer available for buyers of that phone. *'Wi-Fi Calling' - .The signature feature of Republic's service is still being improved and debugged. When it doesn't work properly, finding the solution may require technical skill and patience. The Republic Community forum can often help, but for some, upgrading or replacing home Wi-Fi equipment may be the easiest solution. At a school or business, you may need help from whoever manages the network for that establishment. *'Cell Service '- The cell network used by Republic is the same as that used by Sprint's customers, which is generally ranked at or near the bottom among major players in JD Power's 2013 Wireless Network Quality Performance Study While adequate for most, your location may or may not have good signal strength. Zoom in on this map to check Sprint's estimated coverage in your area. If your home is a roaming area, you'll need to travel to a location with Sprint coverage to activate the phone. Some roaming users have reported problems receiving calls and data speeds limited to ~100Kbps. *'Messaging' - Lack of messaging features compared to other carriers is a frequent complaint. At this time, there is no support for sending or receiving pictures via text message, or MMS (Multimedia Message Service). Lack of MMS means you may also miss group messages sent from iPhones, even when no picture is included. After downplaying the need for MMS for more than a year, Republic now states they will eventually support it. It is not possible to text to 5 or 6 digit "short code" numbers. Automatic services that send texts may see Republic's phone numbers as landlines and consider them incapable of receiving a text. Finally, there is no e-mail to text gateway, which means you can't receive texts from services that require the carrier's name or use E-mail to deliver the text. *'Voicemail' - In its current state, the voicemail service lacks features found in most other carriers' voicemail systems. Rather than put up with the issues, some have chosen to use a third party voicemail service (Google Voice). Voicemail improvements are supposed to be coming soon. *'Technical Support '- There is no call center and Republic discourages members from using employees' direct business numbers to request assistance. Support requests may be initiated via the company's website, as well as via E-mail, Twitter, or snail mail. Support ticket responses are sent via E-mail and can also be seen by checking ticket status at the website (in some cases Republic does contact members on the phone after a ticket is opened). Republic's support center is not staffed 24x7. For issues that don't need Republic's direct involvement, members may post in the online Community forums and receive answers from other Republic members (all volunteers). The forums are overseen and lightly moderated by a few Republic personnel. *'Customer Service '- The same contact methods as Technical Support apply. After a rocky start with many billing and refund problems, Republic's payment and refund system has improved considerably, but some still report that duplicate pending authorizations to debit cards are causing problems for their accounts. *'Website' - The primary online venues for help and support, i.e. the online community forums and the My Account Portal, do not work well with phone browsers, nor with Internet Explorer 10. *'''But wait - there's more! - '''Please see Current Open or Unsolved Issues and Feature Requests. Despite all this, it's important to note that most members continue using Republic's service due to the low cost and freedom from extra charges or limits. Admittedly, this is not a Cadillac service. It is more like a Fiat. If you're not afraid to stick your head under the hood and tweak the motor, you can get to where you're going at a fraction of the cost of other carriers. Republic also does some things better than expected - for that list, please see The Complete List of Kudos.